This opinion content intended
for those over 18 years of age who aren't politically
ultra-conservative.

If strong language and moderate to liberal politics offend you,
it's best if you just read my blog page. It's newsy, rather than
opinionated.

Some days may have a single opinion post or none at all, while
other days may hold two or more. It'll just depend upon the day
and what's hit my buttons.

Readers are welcome to
comment on my Opinion posts, providing their comments are
intelligent and reasoned. Trolling comments will be ignored,
unless they are so terriby egregious that I decide to share them
for all the world to see and ridicule alongside me.

March 19, 2018

The current political climate in the
United States is scaring the shit out of me.

I've been watching our nation become
increasingly fascistic, and people I might have otherwise
considered to be decent folks are allowing their personal
filters to drop away, revealing themselves to be little better
than neo-Nazis.

People who previously pretended to be
sensible people are supporting an openly racist, misogynistic,
narcissistic, con artist who bullshitted his way into the office
of the presidency of this country. They don’t see how much they
resemble so many of the citizens of pre-War Germany, when Hitler
was working them all up into a horrific, nationalistic frenzy
that ended with World War II and millions of innocents done to
death at the hands of Hitler’s minions.

And the willing blindness of the German
people who supported Adolf Hitler.

It seems that no matter how much
incontrovertible evidence is presented, Trump’s fans refuse to
step back and really look at him. To see that he continues to be
exposed as the reprehensible individual that he is. It’s willing
blindness all over again.

Recordings that clearly show how he
feels entitled to do whatever he likes to and with women, based
upon his money and celebrity.

A vast paper trail showing how his
election was accomplished with the eager participation of the
agents of a hostile country.

An inability to hold onto his temper,
instead blasting his opinions across the world using a social
media platform.

The continuing exodus of White House
employees from their positions either through resignations or
outright firings, in numbers that greatly surpass those during
previous administrations.

We’ve seen what happens when people
ignore the evidence right in front of them.

There are some few who voted for him who
are now actively questioning their vote, but there are countless
others who don’t seem to care. Or perhaps they’re too
embarrassed to admit they made a mistake?

Is it worth noting that the majority of
these willfully-blind voters are of a light skin tone and of a
particular religious bent?

I think it just might be.

I can’t listen to the man speak. His
voice actually turns my stomach. His posture as he bloviates
resembles that of a stand-up comedian on the stage. The
wheedling, whining voice. The one shoulder raised in a
half-shrug, and you can almost picture him clutching a
microphone in one chubby fist as a talisman against the darkness
that conceals the audience before him.

You know the kind.

The one who believes that everyone loves
him and the “jokes” he tells. The “pranks” he plays.

The one
who shows up for open mic night at your local comedy club and
tries to prove to their friends who are sitting in the audience,
nursing crummy beers, that they actually do
tell funny jokes.

Well, a whole hell of a lot of us aren’t
laughing.

Being the leader of a country as large
as the United States is not a laughing matter. It is something
quite serious.

We need to be taking our current
situation very seriously indeed.

You’re
not funny, Donnybrook, and you are not
my president in even the tiniest sense of the word.

You are dangerous and a world-class
embarrassment, and I hope to see you do prison time in the very
near future.

March 11, 2018

At this time, the Federal government is
all about legislating heavily in regard to both behind the
counter and over the counter drugs. The prescription drugs
(behind the counter) because of the growing "opioid crisis", and
non-prescription (over the counter) because of fears that
nefarious types will use those relatively unmonitored drugs to
make more dangerous drugs.

You may not know it, but the government even keeps an eye on you
if you purchase large quantities of essential oils such as
camphor or sassafras, for that reason. It doesn't matter if
you're going to use it to make herbal remedies or you just like
the smell of the stuff, if there is any chance it can be used to
make something like meth, they're going to get a notification
from the supply house you buy from that you've done so.

They're keeping a close eye on you. They've got a computerized
list and they're engraving your name and Driver License
information on it. It's not going anywhere.

Meanwhile, the government seems to want to know as little as
possible about those who purchase firearms. As long as you can
pay for it, they don't seem to give a shit about your plans for
your new manual or semi-manual, or not-at-all-manual boomstick.

When mass shootings happen, the conservatives immediately insist
that it's "too soon" to talk about and even enact legislation
that stands a real chance of preventing something like that from
happening again.

The most recent school shooting that killed 17 people is recent,
so okay, maybe that's "too soon", but what about Sandy Hook and
Las Vegas and those shootings that happened before and after
them? Is it still "too soon" to start doing something because
months and even years have passed since they happened?

Brenda Spencer went off a few decades ago. Perhaps that's no
longer "too soon". Let me know. She didn't like Mondays, so
perhaps you can address it on any other day of the week.

How much time must pass until it is no longer "too soon" and
Congress can address the issue of repeated massacres?

As far as I'm concerned, too many members of Congress are the
eager lapdogs of the National Rifle Association, dependent upon
financial handouts that they fear will go away if they do
anything meaningful to reduce the number of deaths caused by
people wielding the weapons they can so easily obtain at this
time.

Yes, there are people out there who are responsible gun owners,
and I'm cool with that. I'm not about taking guns away from
RESPONSIBLE and SANE individuals. I'm about preventing people
from purchasing/obtaining firearms in order to hurt others.

It stopped being "too soon" after the
first massacre. At this time, it has become "too late".

January 29, 2018

I had sleep apnea for a long time, due to
being morbidly obese for several years, but with the major
weight loss (medically supervised, everything's fine) I've
undergone over the past nearly year and a half, that problem has
gone from me.

I've got friends and family who deal
with it, and it scares me to know that it's still a thing for
them. The mere idea that they could stop breathing permanently
between one breath and the next makes me worry about them.

The sheer number of Americans who now
suffer from not only obesity, but morbid obesity is
rising more with each year. You've seen these folks. A lot of
them have been swept into the food-driven part of our culture.

Unhappy? Eat something to feel better.

Happy? Eat something to celebrate.

Hell, see that special cheesy pizza
offer on the television commercial? Order delivery and you can
munch on it and the free cheesy bread that
comes with it while you watch your favorite reality tv
show!

Take a moment sometime and watch how
many commercials hit the boob tube that feature enticing images
of food. If you look closely enough, you'll see that the foods
they're trying to sell you are super-sized, loaded with
calories, and actually not all that good for you as even
sporadic dietary choices.

The result of eating this kind of stuff
makes for overweight, obese, and morbidly obese people.

These are the folks you avoid looking at
or speaking to on the street. The ones who are often stuck
wearing clothing that only accentuates their size. These are the
people you don't hire for front office positions because you
have the gall to pretend that only pretty people work for you.

Whoever decided that fat women should
only have clothing with large patterns on them should be flogged
with a polyester one-size-fits-most mumu.

And speaking of polyester, what mental
giant decided that people who already have a problem regulating
their body temperature because of all that extra padding should
wear clothing that doesn't "breathe" as one perspires? Why
aren't there more offerings out there of cotton, rayon, silk, or
other natural fabrics for larger people?

Hell, I'm sure you've chuckled at the
"people of Walmart" photos out there, but it may not be clear to
you that many brick and mortar stores don't offer sizes larger
than a 1X to customers, and if they want sizes that fit them,
they have to order them online. While Walmart may have some
questionable hiring and employment practices, at least having
larger sizes available allows larger people the opportunity to
try something on before buying it.

It's like large-bodied people are
being punished for being large in the first place, and that's
just not cool at all.

I truly hope you aren't a part of that problem.

January 28, 2018The current political climate
is mind-boggling to me. People who might otherwise be sensible,
humane individuals now embrace someone who appears to have no
sane grip on reality. Someone who has never had to worry about
keeping a roof over their head and food in their belly.

Hell, even someone with student loans to pay off, or having to
choose the most reliable used car they can buy with
what little cash they can spare.

Instead, the highest office in the land is held by someone who
grew up with a golden spoon in his mouth. Whose daddy paid for
him to get into college. Who pled plantar fasciitis to stay out
of the military during the Draft, but who clearly has spent lots
of time in his life playing athletic games like tennis, and
those requiring walking, like golf.

You can't have it both ways. Your feet either hurt too much or
they don't.

My cousin was drafted into the United States Navy, and he
certainly didn't try to claim sore heels as a reason to stay
out. He got in, represented his country during the Vietnam War,
and was given an honorable discharge when he was done with his
term of service. Thus, I am offended by the Orange Agent's lip
service to the United States military, as his noises ring thinly
on my ears.

I can't be the only person who feels this way. I can't be the
only person infuriated by this bullshit. So, where are you all?

Email me with your thoughts, and I'll include them here,
providing they aren't simple idiocy.

In my next opinion, I'll address allowing the thief to hire the
security guard for the palace.